Dipyrone use in Brazil: clinical conditions, sociodemographic characteristics, population attitudes and perceptions

This study aims to analyze self-reported dipyrone use among the Brazilian population. We used data from the Brazilian National Survey on Access, Use, and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines (PNAUM), conducted from September 2013 to February 2014 in urban areas of five regions of Brazil. The study population included individuals of all ages, with a minimum sample size of 960 interviews per sample domain, totaling 41,433 respondents and representing approximately 17 million Brazilians. We assessed socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, profiles of chronic and acute diseases, medication use, health perceptions, and perceived effectiveness and safety of dipyrone - either alone or in combination with other medications. The Poisson regression model was used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR). The results showed that 10.4% of respondents reported using dipyrone, with 98.3% of these users taking it for acute conditions, such as pain (77.9%) and fever (14.5%). After adjusting for variables, dipyrone use for pain was more common among women (aPR = 1.66; 95%CI: 1.47-1.88) and among individuals living in the Central-West (aPR = 1.32; 95%CI: 1.04-1.67), particularly those with chronic conditions or acute events. Use for fever was similar between genders but more common among children aged under 10 years (PR = 0.62; 95%CI: 0.46-0.82). Half of the users combined dipyrone with other medications, and this practice was ten times more frequent for pain than for fever. Lastly, the effectiveness of dipyrone was widely perceived as positive, with few reports of adverse effects.